TOMAS CUSINE 2012 EL VILOSELL

The nose is delicious with earthy brown spices, leather and minerality balanced with dried cherry and strawberry notes. The cherry/strawberry fruit carries over to the palate-- whereas dried in the nose, it's fully lush and even more alive on the palate. The fruit leads to a rich earthiness on the palate with more spice (cinnamon, cardamom) toward the mid-palate and finish, which is completely borne aloft by a gorgeous layer of acidity-- suddenly, you realize that this is kind of a serious wine at the sub-$16 price point. Vilosell definitely has some gravitas and, while we were pretty happy just tasting it solo, a bit of appropriate food would really let this wine shine through (think BBQ, beef, hearty autumn/winter fare, stews, charcuterie, rich tapas).